Category: Press Releases

New Prescription Discount Drug Card Saving County Residents Money

  • February 11, 2014
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Lake Havasu City, AZ –Supervisor Buster Johnson would like to share with the public the latest figures compiled by Mohave County’s Human Resource Department in regards to the county’s new prescription discount drug program. The National Association of Counties (NACo) Prescription Discount Drug Program was first made available for use by all Mohave County residents just last month. “Since that time participants of the program have saved on average 21.4% on their prescription drugs,” Supervisor Johnson stated. According to the figures, a total of 10 county residents utilized the program during the month of January saving them over $300 on their prescriptions with an average savings of $18.39 per prescription. “This program is a great benefit for residents, and I hope to see more take advantage of it in the future,” Johnson stated. Of the ten participants, a total of 18 prescriptions were submitted through the card with 15 of them seeing a larger discount with NACo’s discount program than with the discount programs offered through pharmacies such as Walgreens. As an example Johnson explained, “A resident without the NACo card would have paid on average $85.92 for a specific prescription. With the NACo card, on average they only ended up paying $67.52,” Johnson explained. The Prescription Discount Drug Program is put on by NACo at no cost to the counties or participants of the program. It can be used by all county residents regardless of age, income or existing health coverage. There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use. The card is accepted at most major retail pharmacies, including CVS. For those interested in a free card, one can be obtained at County Supervisor Buster Johnson’s office located at 2001 College Drive or online at: http://www.nacorx.org/ ###

Johnson Concerned About Security on New Internet Ready Appliances

  • February 6, 2014
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Lake Havasu City, AZ – In what is being called the new Internet of Things (IoT) market, consumers are seeing new internet ready appliances coming out from different manufactures at an extremely fast pace. The International Data Corporation (IDC) expects IoT technology and services spending to generate global revenues of $8.9 trillion by 2020. Supervisor Buster Johnson is concerned that this new technology may lead to more cyber security breaches. “This is getting a little scary with all the things that are becoming subject to hacking,” Supervisor Johnson stated. Johnson, who is one of the First Vice Presidents of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Cyber Security Task Force, has seen the IoT market take off over the past five years with the invention of products such as the Nest and Kwikset’s new Kevo product. “This new technology is going to change our everyday lives. With technology that will let us unlock our front door with our cell phone to refrigerators that keep track of inventory, someday soon nearly every appliance in our homes will come equipped with a computer chip. This new technology may be more convenient but at the same time it leaves us all vulnerable to cyber-attacks,” Johnson explained. The first major cyber-attack to be reported on internet ready appliances occurred late last year. According to researchers at Proofpoint, a provider of cloud-based solutions for threat protection, hackers broke into more than 100,000 everyday consumer gadgets between December 23, 2013 and January 6, 2014, such as home networking routers, connected multi-media centers, televisions, and at least one refrigerator. “Hackers are using these connected appliances as a new way to send malicious emails to enterprises and individuals worldwide,” Johnson stated. One of the newest IoT gadgets on the market today is Kwikset’s new Kevo bluetooth electronic deadbolt lock that can open one’s front door by using an app on the user’s iPhone. “You use to know when someone broke into your home because they would usually kick in the door. With this new technology, an intruder could be in your home and you may never know,” Johnson ended. ###

Arizona Association of Counties Asks Feds for Funding of PILT

  • January 24, 2014
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Phoenix, AZ – The Arizona Association of Counties (AACo) Board of Directors today adopted a resolution encouraging the federal government to honor its financial commitment to federal public land jurisdictions by fully funding the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. Congress recently adopted the Fiscal Year 2014 federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill and PILT funding was not included. For more than 30 years, the PILT program has compensated counties for the loss of tax revenue associated with certain federal lands. Federal lands are no longer subject to local property tax but are frequently serviced by county governments in the form of roads, emergency management, law enforcement, search and rescue, etc. It was expected that the FY 2014 appropriation would have contained nearly $500 million in federal PILT payments to the nation’s effected counties. This amount would have honored commitments in the current federal fiscal year. AACo staff this week spent time working with the National Association of Counties (NACo) in encouraging members of Congress to include full funding for PILT in the Farm Bill; the most viable remaining legislative vehicle to enact the appropriation. Key congressional leaders continued to negotiate the final components of the legislation and it is anticipated that the Farm Bill will soon be taken up by the full Congress in the coming weeks. To view a copy of AACo’s Resolution on PILT Payments, please click here: http://www.azcounties.org/DocumentCenter/View/488 ###

Millions of Tax Payer Dollars Still Flowing to Colorado City for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance & Medicaid

  • January 21, 2014
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Lake Havasu City, AZ – Supervisor Buster Johnson has received an updated report from the Department of Economic Security (DES) on the number of recipients receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Payments (SNAP) and Medicaid paid out by tax payer dollars in the Colorado City area. Supervisor Johnson, who has fought for the rights of women and children in Colorado City since taking office in 1997, first notified the public of his concerns regarding this issue back in September. “This new report continues to show that over 90% of the population of Colorado City is receiving supplemental nutrition and medical assistance,” Johnson stated. “Over $400,000 a month in SNAP benefits alone is being paid out for a town with a population of only a little under five thousand,” Johnson continued. The DES figures showed that over $12 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance was paid out from July of 2011 to December of 2013. “For a small town, these numbers continue to be outrageous. While recipients around the state saw their SNAP benefits cut by 5% in November, those in Colorado City don’t seem to be feeling the same hardship,” Johnson said. According to the latest figures, in December of 2013 approximately $428,099 was paid out for SNAP benefits on 529 cases resulting in a total household SNAP benefit of a little over $800 a month. “The average benefit for a household in the state of Arizona is roughly $288. The households in Colorado City are receiving over two times that amount,” Johnson said. During the past 17 years in public office, Supervisor Johnson has continued to see the FLDS “bleed the beast,” a term used by the FLDS prophet to justify the taking of tax payer dollars. “The women and children in Colorado City are not the ones receiving the actual benefits. They have been forced on a strict diet of water and beans by order of the FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs,” Johnson explained. The figures released to Johnson’s office also show that for that same time period a total of 141,363 medical related appointments were made and paid for with tax payer dollars. While the report does not specify exactly how much money was paid out for medical assistance in the Colorado City area, the number can be estimated by going off the reported average cost of $199 per doctor visit in the United States. “By going off of the $199 per visit number, the amount paid for with tax payer dollars for 2013 alone would have amounted to a total cost of over $11 million,” Johnson ended. ###

New TLC Series to Document Former FLDS Member Flora Jessop

  • January 6, 2014
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Lake Havasu City, AZ – Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson would like to inform the public of a new series premiering on TLC tomorrow, January 7th, called Escaping the Prophet.  The six part series documents the efforts of former FLDS member Flora Jessop as she helps families flee the polygamist community of Colorado City.  Supervisor Johnson has worked with Flora endlessly for nearly seventeen years to try and help abused women and children escape as well as try and shed a light publicly on the dangerous polygamist cult.  In Escaping the Prophet, Flora, along with partner Brandon, who is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) and one of Warren Jeffs’ nephews, offers aid and attempts to extract a number of families from the FLDS community. Escaping the Prophet is one of two new series TLC will be showing in the upcoming months that document the FLDS community.  “By showing these two series, viewers will be able to get an insight into just how dangerous life in this community is.  Other shows, such as Sister Wives and The Polygamists, in the past have painted a false picture of what life in a polygamous community is like.  In Colorado City, these women are told what they can and cannot do.  Unlike what these other shows portray, these women have no freedom and are forced to be subservient to men.  With this new series, folks will be able to see exactly what women and children go through on a daily basis in Colorado City,” Johnson stated.   The other series put on by TLC is called Breaking the Faith, which follows members as they leave the faith. For further information on the new series please visit: http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/escaping-the-prophet ###